Ebon Indenture: Thief Prince (Revised Edition)
by Dovakaaz
Summary: The young khajiit named Ly'ro, begins his role as the guildmaster's son in the Thieves Guild, and meets many different faces and does many tasks along the way. As he does this, he realizes that he's more important than he already is, when he is called upon by the daedric prince Nocturnal, in order to undergo his true purpose. (Note: Details on the Revised edition on chapter 1.)
1. A Quick Message:

The following story is the revised edition of the first fanfic I ever worked on, Ebon Indenture: The Thief Prince. If you've read through the original story, or have just seen bits and pieces of it, you may have noticed that it has a TON of typing errors, unnecessarily long chapters, pointlessly short chapters, and a few more things that make the story look poor in general. This version exists solely to perfect what was flawed, and add a bit more additional content as well. With that being said, Whether you're somebody who read the original version, or somebody who's just now learning of this story, thank you for reading this message, and I hope you keep on reading. :)

-Dovakaaz


	2. Prologue: Departure

Patience.

Patience was a word that was commonly directed at the young khajiit by his mother, In many different situations: From when he was waiting for her to order a book from outside Skyrim, to waiting for his father to finally come back from one of his "Business ventures", patience was always a word she used in a time like this. This cat was a boy that respected and served his family at all times, especially when it came to his mother's words, But in this situation, The word "patience" was simply useless. His tail was wagging half as fast as a dog's tail would, and his body was shuddering slightly due to the high anticipation of the moment. His heart was thumping hard, And he tapped his fingers against his crossed arms as he leaned on the wall of his home, Prepared to leave for good. his mother should have been down by now, But she must be taking her time. The young khajiit, Ly'ro Si'tani, did not blame her at the slightest.

The khajiit was about 5'7, with a coat of black fur similar to his father's, and a pair of luminescent, green, piercing eyes. A well-trimmed black mohawk was on top of his head, with a few strings of hair hanging down to his face. He was a mere eighteen years old, trained in the art of stealth, secrecy, and other ill intentions since the younger age of thirteen. This was necessary, as this young khajiit was the son of the Thieve's Guildmaster, Dar'jo Si'tani, and had come of age to set foot within the guild's activities.

Ly'ro was still dealing with minor anxiety, So in efforts to pass the time, He decided to revise his traveling gear(for the third time). He smiled and looked at his own garments: The Thieves Guild armor, The armor he had been training in the art of stealth for so long to be worthy of equipping. He specifically desired the gray, Sleeveless variant of the armor for the sake of increased dexterity and nimbleness in combat. On top of that, he also thought that version of the armor was much more "stylish". He brandished his weapon of choice from his back side, Just above his tail; An enchanted dagger, Purchased and smuggled from the College of Winterhold, To his possession. According to his father, It was specifically nicknamed, "The Carapace Bane". The reason why the blade carried this nickname, He forgot. He hoped it would come back to him eventually. He also hoped he wouldn't have to use the blade at all; While he certainly was not afraid of a battle, he only desired theft, not death. He sheathed his dagger back on his side, And rummaged through his backpack. His inventory contained the basics of traveling, Along with a few leisure items: Bottled Water, Salmon steak , A copy of "Surfeit of Thieves", A pocket watch, and a torch. All of these, he assumed were necessary for his travels, Be it a simple ride on the carriage, or a walk through the northern mountains. As he Anxiously looked through his things, he neglected to notice his mother already had appeared, prepared to give him his delivery item, and send him off.

Her expression was neutral at the moment, But Ly'ro knew she was both happy and sad at the fact that he was leaving for good now. She was carrying some odd package, Wrapped in linen and leather straps.

As Ly'ro repacked the items in his bag, he asked with a great enthusiastic voice, "I presume that is apart of my commission?"

She nodded and approached him slowly.

Ly'ro continued, "What lies within that bundle of wraps?"

"If your father wanted you to know what was in this package, It wouldn't have the wraps over it." She replied in a somewhat surly manner. Ly'ro's entire family were khajiits birthed far outside from their desert homeland of Elsweyr. With being birthed and raised in different homelands, their family adapted to their surroundings. That being said, their bodies prefer the coldness of Skyrim, and their khajiit tongues spoke fluently like any other man.

Ly'ro placed the package in his inventory and readied his bag on his back. Assuming It was finally time to go, His enthusiasm intensified further, "Alright! So, what is the task at hand, Mother?"

She crossed her arms. "Well, Aren't we eager to start our new 'profession' as a filthy thief?" Ly'ro's mother, Kissina, Was no thief, and had no skill in combat or anything in the adventurer profession; She was but a mere house-wife, raising their children to adulthood.

Ly'ro raised a brow. "You weren't acting as if that was a bad thing when I told you I wouldn't be in the house anymore."

"Well, when I know that you'll also be thrust against your will to serve an overglorified gang, I think otherwise..."

Ly'ro shrugged his shoulders. He knew that he didn't have a choice in the matter on whether or not he wanted to serve the guild, but he never thought about it on purpose. He quickly avoided that remark. "Well, I'm working for the overglorified gang now, and my sister's no different too."

Her face turned sour as she raised her voice in anger. She seemed to have been holding her emotions in for a while. "Well you know what? I didn't want you or your sister Sharia to follow down your father's-"

Ly'ro cut her off so our housecarl, Jordis, Didn't hear her yelling. "Listen, Mother! Please, calm down."

After a few breaths, Her head hung low in the sad reality. Ly'ro knew she wasn't happy, but she never realized she was this distraught over the situation, she had been taking it very normally in the past. "Ly'ro... I wanted you to live an honest life, far, far away from this... I wanted the same for your sister, as well. Ive seen those thieve's guild types. You're a sweet, sweet boy, and you care for others and what they think... you wouldn't... you aren't like them, and I don't want you to become like them!"

"Like what?"

"Mindless, heartless crooks, only obsessed with money!"

"But, how could I become anything like that? I've lived in a prestigious manor every since I was born." He approached her, attempting to wrap his arms around her. "Look, I'm sorry, mother... I didn't know you were this angry about the-"

As He attempted to comfort her, She shoved him with one arm as her other arm covered her face, Which Ly'ro had thought was in tears. "Ly'ro... my cub... you are my flesh and blood, But..." She raised her head and looked me directly in the eyes. "...This isn't the time. Not now. You're... right. You're not like them. You couldn't become like them... or your father... could you?"

Ly'ro grew a smile on his face. "Not a chance!"

"Good." She stared at him with a smile on her face for a little while longer and then, after wiping her eyes dry, got back to the subject, Which was Ly'ro's first job for the guild. "Your first assignment for the guild is a simple delivery job."

Ly'ro shook his head and refocused myself as she said that.

His mother continued, "The package I gave you is to be delivered to an argonian man, named, 'Walks-in-shadows' in the canal locksmith in Riften; You may or may not meet up with your sister on the way there." She handed him the package, walked past him to the table, and took a seat as well as a deep breath. "After you deliver the package to the argonian, he should tell you where the thieves guild headquarters is, Then you can take more jobs from the members and doyens that reside within it. That is all."

Doing his best to not worry about how his mother felt, he walked to the door, Ready to leave.

Before he could touch the knob, his mother called him again.

"Ly'ro... My cub..." She looked at me with a smile and a wave, and said, "...Best of luck to you."

He smiled back at her, Nodded slowly, and without another word, Left his home.

Ly'ro took his steps out of the door outside; His eyes squinted slightly at the brightness outside, for it was his first time coming out today. He undoubtedly was not going to travel to Riften on foot, So his first thoughts were to purchase a carriage ride there. He began taking the walk towards the city gate. A carriage ride from Solitude to Riften was going to be quite the trip, so he relaxed a little, and preserved his enthusiasm until he actually arrived at Riften. When his thoughts were empty and my walk was getting dull, I decided to simply be the person I was, since I was a kitten; A nosy sneak.

Ly'ro's childhood wasn't a very social one, and he rarely had people to speak to in childhood; A result of never having any friends in his life. Being the son of the thieve's guildmaster gives off rumors, and rumors cause certain children's parents to tell their own sons and daughters to stay away from them anyone related to them. Being apart of the only khajiit family in Solitude didn't exactly help either. So he chose to simply listen into other's conversations and inspect how they were. Many people in Solitude would be surprised by how much the young khajiit knew about them. When he started paying attention, he noticed a few guards eyeing him and giving him nasty looks, something that was actually a first time experience for him. One guard in particular, was very clear in his expression. He was staring directly at him, eyes squinted.

Ly'ro stopped and looked back at him with a brow raised. "Can I help you...?" He asked, with attempted normality.

"I know Thieves Guild armor when I see it, You're not fooling anyone, scum!" The guard replied quickly and antagonistically.

Ly'ro grinned after a few seconds of pretending to be oblivious. Even though his never asked to be who he was, it felt nice for him to be acknowledged, even if it wasn't for anything good. Ly'ro lived a life of growing up to be ignored and looked over due to the rumors told of his family being related to the guild, and relished in having any form of attention paid to him from the outside world, even if it was negative. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He said, with obvious sarcasm.

"Just keep it moving... 'citizen'." The guard then spit, and afterwards ignored his presence, Not even looking in his general field of direction.

Ly'ro ignored the guard's childish actions and continued to the Solitude gates. He didn't blame him for his hatred and disgust towards him, however. He totally understood: Since the civil war ended, the Dark Brotherhood was destroyed, and the dragon crisis was averted by the dragonborn two decades ago, the guards had little to distract them from their average duties, and bandit's have been less and less brazen those days, so they were quite uncommon.

That being said, The Thieve's Guild and a few other undesirables are the only things left people had to despise these days. Ly'ro merely wished these guards and people would understand that just because he was a guild thief, doesn't mean he's this mindless, soulless sociopath they label him as. He was not asking for anyone's sympathy, and he knew them feeling such a way would never occur, but he wish someone outside of his family would understand a few things about him and his kin. he wondered if they realized how awkward it was, being born into a family of thieves; Or better yet, knowing how awkward it is, having the guild-master of the Thieves Guild as your father. He never asked to be in such a position. He just desired someone outside of my family to vent that frustration towards, because he was sure his mother and Jordis, the housecarl understood completely. This was apart of why Ly'ro was excited to go off on his own finally; Maybe he could find someone like that, though he doubted it.

As he finished rambling to himself, he arrived at the main gate to Solitude. The gate keepers, looking bored and lazy, let him outside, and he went down the road to find the nearest carriage. Leaving the city of stone and markets behind and seeing and smelling some trees and natural foliage was a nice change of pace; He never went outside the city a lot aside from when he was being trained. He arrived at the carriage, Stationed at the first watchtower outside Solitude, surveying Katla's farm. It was the evening of tirdas, So he knew that the coach wouldn't be preoccupied with snobby peddlers or half-witted adventurers, seeking an early grave. It did, however, have a single, pale skinned woman in black robes, carrying a satchel with a few feathers sticking out of it. She looked as if she were in her early 20's, and had a distant, somewhat psychotic look in her eyes. Paranoia and unknowing had Ly'ro in fear, Causing him to assume that she was a necromancer, Trying to get an easy picking of test subjects, or undead slaves, or worse. He called the carriage driver. He looked at him patiently, waiting for my response.

"Khajiit?" He said.

"Where is this carriage stopping?" Ly'ro attempted to relax, getting on the carriage, sitting away from the black-clothed woman.

"We're stopping at Whiterun, then at Riften, and back." He replied.

Still worrisome of the second passenger, he asked,"How long does it take to get to Riften at average time?"

"You'll be there by nightfall, most likely."

"Alright, thanks." He took a small breath and waited for the carriage to embark. Calming down, He retrieved his book and began reading, and minutes later, the carriage began moving and the journey to Riften began.


	3. Sudden Adoption

The carriage ride was a dull and quiet one. It Turned out the book that Ly'ro brought with him was much shorter than he anticipated, and none of the three on the carriage were much talkers, So he had just been sightseeing, which wasn't necessarily bad, since the amount of time he spent outside Solitude's walls were minuscule. On his way to the first stop, they passed through a quiet village called Rorikstead. It seemed like a decent settlement to Ly'ro; Children were frolicking about, farmers were doing their farming, and so on. Ly'ro watched mostly the children in particular, happy and content. It began to irritate him, how joyful and carefree they all looked. Ly'ro saw this and remembered how painful his childhood was, and immediately looked away afterwards.

He knew he was just going to get angrier over how poor and pitiful his childhood was the more he looked, so he did what he could to take his mind off of it and turned his head away from the view of the village. As he did so, He took a moment to inspect the pale-skinned woman near him. Ly'ro forgot not to get too comfortable around her. She seemed to be twitching slightly, and was tapping her fingers against her satchel, as if she were in a rush for something. Ly'ro continued to keep his distance from her as much as he could sitting on the carriage. They had made it to the first stop, at the Whiterun stables, before passing a landmarked watchtower on the way there. Ly'ro heard it was where the Dragonborn killed his first dragon or something, but He didn't care about it at all since it held no physical treasures to take, nor had any relevance to anything guild-related. The carriage driver left the driver's seat to grab fresh wheels and horse feed for his next ride.

The carriage driver raised his voice, speaking to them as they got off, "I'm gonna' be gone for at least 15 minutes, so make sure you get back in time if you leave the area."

The woman and Ly'ro nodded silently.

"Okay, away from the carriage, wheels need replacin'."

The two had both stepped off the carriage and waited until repairs were made. There were many diversions and so on around, after Ly'ro looked around and noticed. Ly'ro turned around to the lodge behind him; The Owls Perch Inn, He saw it was titled. Probably exists for all the tourists and travelers moving through Whiterun. He also knew there was a small market on the outskirts of Whiterun, near the entrance to the city gate, However he couldn't see it all from where he was standing, and he wasn't going to move over there to look either; He didn't want to risk losing my ride to Riften, and he wanted to be safe rather than sorry.

He stayed put, and as he did, he noticed the woman was doing something very different now; She was staring directly at him. With a desperate looking expression, she gazed at Ly'ro, as if she were expecting something. With that stare, Ly'ro finally stopped being cowardly and took the time to fully analyze her. Ly'ro approached her, with his dagger on standby, and gave her a closer inspection. She was clearly a woman, a nord woman unsurprisingly, black robed and pale skinned, as he learned earlier today, but he noticed something new, as he inspected her in a very non-inconspicuous manner. Ly'ro gave the woman some sniffs, and her scent was slightly smelling of a foul mixture; An addictive mixture that, unfortunately, is apart of the stereotype of the khajiit culture.

With her scent smelling of said mixture, it was obvious what she was not what Ly'ro originally thought she was. She wasn't some deadly necromancer yearning for a new corpse to use as her plaything, She was just a skooma-addict. It was also obvious that she thought Ly'ro had said product. His anger had risen incredibly quickly, due to Ly'ro's hatred towards the filth.

"You nord bitch!" He shouted.

Some guards in the background started watching them vigilantly.

"You've got some damned nerve thinking I'd haul such trash!"

Ly'ro's sudden shouting towards her scared her, and she fell to the ground, and subsequently fell into tears, and looked up back to him, with a pitiful frown. "I'm sorry! I just... really need it..."

He stared at her on the ground, helpless, pouring tears down her face for about five seconds, until a terrible memory was brought upon him. After so much as remembering that painful piece of the past so much as slighty, He immediately grabbed her arm and raised her up from the ground, in attempts to take it off his mind and make it go away .

As he lifted her, she looked at him with confusion.

"Follow me." Ly'ro said.

He had taken her for a walk to the Outskirts Market, Hoping he didn't take too much time. As we toured hastily, he scanned every store for an alchemy vendor.

The woman was confused. "What are we doing? Are you turning me in? Can I be arrested for this?!" She said in panic.

"No you can't. Now shut your mouth! You're attracting attention."

Finding out that there weren't any alchemy centers nearby, he grabbed her hand and pulled her with him to a khajiit caravan. Ly'ro was sure they had what he desired- he knew they had all types of items, knowing the caravan that stops at the gate of Solitude. He approached the khajiit merchant; His ears were twitching and seemingly uncomfortable. His exhibition of discomfort had him assuming he wasn't from the cold winds of Skyrim and he was from the deserts of Elsweyr, a "Desert Cat", as Ly'ro used to call them as a cub.

Rushing, to the subject, He asked the merchant about his goods, "Excuse me, You have some potions in stock, right?"

The khajiit nodded, and spoke in his thick accent, completely different from Ly'ro's, or any of his family's tongue. "Yes, we have that and all kinds of different wares, but a mere potion is this one's only desire, no?"

"That's right." He reached for his coin-purse. "How much for a healing potion? Cheapest one you've got."

The merchant nodded, and rummaged through his stock, retrieving a small flask filled with red, thick liquid. He thought of a price to offer while inspecting it and reading its label. "Hmm... forty gold will do for this item."

Ly'ro nodded and counted his coins, completed his transaction, and shoved the addicted nord her healing remedy. "Drink it." He ordered.

The addicted nord didn't know how to react at all; She looked at him with a mixture of bafflement and sincere gratitude. "You would do this... for a stranger?"

Ly'ro ignored her sincerity, and was instead irritated by the painful memories, still floating about in his mind. "I said, drink it!" He repeated firmly.

She had winced slightly and quickly drank the fluid from the potion, gagging on it slightly.

"The potion shouldn't completely cure you instantly, but it will help you sober up." Ly'ro said, crossing his arms. "I make the assumption that you're going to stay away from that trash since my courtesy made me help you with it now." In reality, Ly'ro's decision was not of courtesy, but of impulse. He couldn't stand to see anyone taking skooma at all, not even the people he disliked. It was a substance that brought too much pain to him and his loved ones, the few that he had, anyway.

"Th... thank you... thank you so much..." The woman whimpered, and went back to her sobbing.

Ly'ro had seen the carriage had been fully repaired, so he moved back to it and returned to his seat. He also went out of his way to grab the woman's attention to let her know, and followed along after a few more moments of sniffling.

The carriage ride was on its way to Riften after that, and Ly'ro's step towards the guild grew even closer now. After a few minutes of silence on the carriage, and passing by a landmark called the Valthiem Towers, the woman spoke to me, "...Thank you so much for what you've done."

Ly'ro, hearing her words again, nodded slowly. "mmhmm."

"But... I know I shouldnt ask, but why?"

Ly'ro looked at her with a small amount of irritation. "If you found a gold ingot made of pure gold while walking down a road, would you ask how? or why?"

The woman closed her eyes for a moment and finally stopped her tears. "I... I guess I shouldn't question that. I wish I could repay you..." She looks down on her lap.

Repayment wasn't on Ly'ro's mind, but when she brought it up, his interest had risen greatly. He raised a brow and attemptedly sated his curiosity, "What do you think you can do for me, Nord?"

"Well, you're an adventurer, aren't you?"

Ly'ro's ears perked at the question. "...Well, Yes."

The carriage driver turned around and gave him a curious look.

Ly'ro cursed at himself for such poorly chosen words, the commonplace thief looked exactly like him, and he only did himself worse.

"How... ominous of you." She looked at him, warily. "But I will pretend you didn't imply anything malicious."

"I'm serious, I'm just an adventurer!" Ly'ro, quickly realizing he wasn't helping himself at all, sighed and changed the subject. "Just answer my question, nord."

She returns to the subject. "Well, I'm sure you won't believe me, but I'm actually a scripturist, from Cyrodiil."

Ly'ro raised an eyebrow in interest and curiosity. While keeping his feelings hidden, He was honestly shocked; After all, what were the odds? "...Go on." He replied.

"A few months ago, I came to Skyrim in attempts to learn of the exotic ingredients I could make enchanted ink with here, but..." She looked down on her lap. "My parents..." her eyes squinted."They disowned me. A courier sent me a note from my parents down in Cyrodiil..." Her hand balled into a fist. "The note said that they will no longer fund my stay in Skyrim and that I'm on my own from now on. "I was out of money, and I didn't know what to do at the time, so I wandered, crying about for days, but then a khajiit like you appeared and said that he had something that can help me feel better." She looked back at me. "I think you can summarize the rest."

Ly'ro chose to keep the conversation business oriented and continued to look at her, expectantly. "I didn't ask for your life story, nord. Can you repay me, or can you not?"

She sighed. "Yes."

"Good." He leaned back on the carriage, and silence resumed itself once again. It was quite clear Ly'ro had to keep her around from now on if he wanted his debts paid, so he decided to introduce himself casually. "My name is Ly'ro then. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

The nord nodded at me. "My name is Hildir. It's a pleasure to meet you. You speak very fluently for a khajiit."

"I'll say." The carriage driver muttered.

Ly'ro shrugged. "I get that alot... I was born in Skyrim, so my family adapted quickly."

During the carriage ride, They trailed past another small town, called Fleetford. It was just another peaceful, quiet village. Not many children there at all, so Ly'ro didn't get angry over bad memories again, luckily. After that, they came by Shor's Stone, a village that seemed to be centered around an ebony ore mine called "Redbelly Mine". Ly'ro found it quite interesting to see miners work, even knowing how clearly morbid the work is. After that, along with a few more minutes of silence and horse-powered travel, they finally reached Riften's stables, just before the dusk had fell. Ly'ro's enthusiam had come back to him; He jumped out the carriage, and Hildir followed along.

Ly'ro looked back at Hildir. "Hey... I'm pretty sure you aren't going to do anything but follow me around like a lost dog from here on, so try to just stay behind me from here on, okay?"

Hildir took Ly'ro's first remark as an insult. "Okay..."

"Know this, however." Ly'ro's facial expression turned serious, as he remembered a quote his father used for him as a cub many times. "You do what I say. No questions, No exceptions."

She frowned slowly and muttered, "...Okay."

"Good, I've made myself clear. Let's get moving then, Hildir."

With those words, Ly'ro and his new acquaintence approached the Riften gate and his real work with the Thieves' Guild would finally begin soon.


End file.
